Peres In Morocco For Secret Peace Talks

July 22, 1986|By Chicago Tribune

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Shimon Peres went to Morocco on Monday for secret Middle East peace talks with King Hassan, the Chicago Tribune has learned.

Peres will spend three days in Rabat, the Moroccan capital, discussing the prospects for reviving the Mideast peace process with Hassan, who is the leader of the 21-nation Arab League, said Israeli sources.

The sources refused to describe the unusual visit as a diplomatic breakthrough but said the meeting, apparently at Hassan's invitation, underscored the growing sense of urgency among moderate Arab states over the lack of progress toward peace in view of Peres' obligation to transfer leadership to the right-wing Likud Party in October.

''I think that in the moderate Arab world, they feel that time is running out,'' said one source.

Under the Israeli government's power-sharing agreement, Peres, of the moderate Labor Party, will turn over leadership in October to Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, leader of the hard-line Likud bloc.

Peres' Labor Party accepts the exchange of occupied Arab territory for peace, while Likud is unwilling to relinquish any captured land, saying it is part of biblical Israel and vital for the security of the Jewish state.

Peres flew to Morocco Monday after attending an early rollout ceremony for Israel's new Lavi fighter jet at Ben-Gurion Airport, the sources said.

Confirming Peres' secret trip, a Labor parliamentarian, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Peres and Hassan would discuss a wide range of peace-related topics, including Jordan's plans for restoring its influence on the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the chances for peace diplomacy after the rotation of power in Israel and the possibilities of a partial agreement over the West Bank.

King Hussein of Jordan has announced plans for a five-year, $750 million economic plan for the West Bank to rebuild Jordan's political base.

Sources said Peres and Hassan also would discuss Israeli and Jordanian suggestions to appoint Arab mayors to run at least four West Bank municipalities.